More good news about beavers from our friends in Wyoming which is turning out to be a very beavery state. Even if they aren’t quite ready to declare their love in public.
Problem beaver family relocated to Absaroka Mountains in hopes of improving habitat
In back was a 40-pound female beaver, taken from private property where she and her family’s work were flooding a road and farm field. They were needed elsewhere — where flooding would be welcome. This was a special individual. The matriarch for a beaver family of five, her partner and three of her young had already been moved, but she was the first to be released at their new home with a radio transmitter.
Beaver had previously lived on the stream, located in an isolated drainage on the Absaroka front, but mysteriously disappeared about a decade ago. The habitat suffered when the beaver went away.
“It’s not so much about the beaver as it is beaver dams,” Altermatt said.
Um, which repair and build themselves year after year? I think its about the beavers, buddy. You need them to do what humans can’t be relied upon to do. Sheesh!
There are many benefits having beavers doing what they do best. When water is slowed, sediment drops out, increasing the water quality. And when the water level rises, so does the water table surrounding a creek, enabling vegetation to grow. Expanding the wetland area around the creek “is the biggest benefit for terrestrial wildlife,” Altermatt said.
Fish thrive in streams with ponds created by beaver dams and waterfowl are attracted to those areas. In places void of beaver habitat, biologists are forced to do what they can to recreate dams called “beaver dam analogs.” The man-made structures “are intended to make the area more attractive for beavers and increase riparian-dependent, woody vegetation such as willow,” said Travis Cundy, aquatic habitat biologist for the Game and Fish’s Sheridan Region.
Yes they do. You got the idea. And beavers make it possible and keep it happening.
They’re monogamous. They mate for life for the most part,” he said. “They do much better if you move them as a family.”
If a male beaver is caught and relocated before the rest of the family is trapped, he may move on from the new area in search of his mate. And that’s where Altermatt’s beaver trailer comes into play: He can keep the first trapped beaver healthy and relatively happy in the trailer while trying to capture the rest of the family.
“The first beaver is always the easiest to catch. Almost every time I trap I get one the first night; I call it the dumb one,” he said. “The smart one might take a week or two to get.”
And what did sherri tippie teach us? That the first beaver is USUALLY the male and the last beaver is USUALLY the female. Because, well, you get the idea.
At the release site on Sept. 27, Game and Fish Information and Education Specialist Tara Hodges accompanied Altermatt to help negotiate the steep banks to a good release point.
As Altermatt opened the gates to freedom, it took a while before the beaver realized her luck. The pretty gal stuck her nose out, then ducked back in. Then slowly she stuck her whole head out, her eyes starting at Altermatt’s feet and moving toward the sky. As much as Altermatt had done to protect her and her colony, no human is to be trusted.
While they’re usually docile creatures, Altermatt has been rushed by an angry beaver before. They’re not quite as ferocious as a charging grizzly — which Altermatt has also experienced — but encounters with any wild animal can be dangerous.
In this case, however, the tagged beaver slowly waddled to the edge of the creek, dived in nose first and disappeared under the edge of the grassy banks.
Well of course she did. Sheesh.
Did I mention Fro was dropping off the curtains yesterday? I was hardly prepared for the glory of seeing them in person. How awesome will these look framing the stage? Jon was kind enough to give us an idea of scale.
Now I just have to figure out how to hang them! Fro is such an amazing combination of talent,
patience and vision. She made sure every child’s work stayed true, and still managed to turn the whole thing into a masterpiece. Rumor is she might be joining us again for Earth day, when we start the amazing prayer flags that hopefully can hang at the festival. Something like this, only much much cooler.
The idea came from a friends visit to a Croatia Children’s festival that inspired it, but I can’t wait to see a line of beaver flags made by children at the festival! We can do some at Earth day and more at the beaver festival itself and end up with several strands which can zigzag all around the park.
